BOX SCORE

IMMACULATA, Pa.-The Immaculata men's basketball team (6-8) earned a thrilling victory over Keystone (9-6, 6-2 CSAC) by a score of 73-70 at Alumnae Hall to improve to 5-2 in CSAC play.  Senior Nelson Torres hit a game-winning lay-up with 2.4 seconds remaining in the game to give the Mighty Macs a one-point advantage before senior T.J. Klinger iced the game away with two free throws just before the buzzer.
 
With Immaculata trailing 70-69, Torres drove the lane and missed his first attempt, but he corralled the rebound and banked in the put back to lift the Mighty Macs to victory.  That basket was part of a big second half for Torres who scored 16 of his 20 points after halftime.  The senior also added 10 rebounds for his fourth career double-double.
 
Immaculata led from the 14:55 mark of the second half all the way until 12 seconds left when the Giants' Dan Candemeres hit a three-pointer to put Keystone on top 70-69.  The Giants trailed 69-63 with 1:27 remaining before a 7-0 spurt powered by Duncan Lunsford (28 points) gave Keystone the brief lead before Torres' heroics.
 
Klinger (6 points, 5 rebounds, 6 assists) had a very balanced overall performance, while junior Brandon Smith continued his hot streak with 15 points and seven rebounds.
 
Trailing 31-30 at the break, the Mighty Macs stormed out of the gates for the first ten minutes of the second half on a 26-12 run to open up a 13-point lead at 56-43.  Immaculata opened the half shooting 11-18 from the field as part of a 31-62 (50%) shooting night from the floor.  Torres and Smith were pivotal in the run, in addition to senior Kendall Peters who knocked down two three-pointers.
 
Keystone then responded with a quick 9-0 run, led by Lunsford to pull the Giants within four points.  Immaculata continued to keep their lead for the next few minutes as junior Adam Jones (8 points, 7 rebounds) and Smith hit a couple lay-ups each, until Keystone went on their late run to take the lead.  However, Immaculata would have the last look and Torres delivered the winning basket.
 
In the opening twenty minutes of the game, Immaculata never held the lead.  Keystone trotted out a balanced scoring attack as seven players scored to keep Immaculata from ever threatening early.  The Giants held a lead as large as nine points in the first half.
 
Sophomore Xavier Brown had eight first half points and Smith tallied nine himself to keep Immaculata in the game early before the Mighty Macs took off on their second half run.
 
The win solidifies Immaculata in 4^th place in the CSAC through tonight's games.  On Saturday, the Mighty Macs will host Centenary at 1 p.m. at Alumnae Hall as they look to continue their home dominance over conference opponents where they are 4-0 this season.
 
NOTES: The win snaps a 5-game losing streak for Immaculata against Keystone…The last Immaculata win came on February 8^th, 2010 by a score of 74-61 in overtime…They are now 3-8 all-time against the Giants…Klinger moved into 9^th place on the school's all-time assist lists with 83 for his career…He passed Robert Jones (2006-08) and Julius Lopez (2005-09)…Peters is now 10^th all-time in field goals made with 168 after passing Sean Fordham (2005-09)…Smith moved into 7^th on the all-time rebounds list with 306 boards in his career…He also passed Fordham.